On Tuesday President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and his spouse Mehriban Aliyeva attended a solemn ceremony at the Buta Palace to mark the 88th birthday anniversary of national leader Heydar Aliyev and 7th anniversary of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation.
President Ilham Aliyev, First Lady Mehriban Aliyeva, the family members and First Lady of Latvia Lilita Zatlere posed for photographs.
The event, with attendance of state and government representatives and reputable guests, invited from abroad, started off with a video, featuring different periods of Heydar Aliyev`s glorious life path.
President of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, UNESCO and ISESCO goodwill ambassador, MP Mehriban Aliyeva addressed the event.
She noted Azerbaijan made great achievements during the 20 years. Mrs. Mehriban Aliyeva added "Azerbaijan is a powerful country now".
First Lady Mehriban Aliyeva said Heydar Aliyev devoted whole his life to development of Azerbaijan.
Mrs. Aliyeva also recalled the activity of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation.
First Lady said the Foundation implemented a number of large-scale projects over the last year.
Then, participants of the event saw a film on the national leader`s activity.
Speaking at the event, President Ilham Aliyev said Heydar Aliyev had served the people of Azerbaijan with faithfully.
"We are loyal to our national leader," said President Ilham Aliyev, adding "Heydar Aliyev`s policy will live in Azerbaijan forever".
Then, a presentation ceremony of the Heydar Aliyev award was held.
The Head of State presented the award to people`s writer Anar Rzayev for his special contribution to development of Azerbaijan`s literature.
A film narrating on the Heydar Aliyev Foundation`s activity was shown at the ceremony.
The "Gizil Chinar" (Gold Plane tree) award instituted in 2009 by the Foundation was presented to the winners.
President of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation Mehriban Aliyeva presented the "Gizil Chinar" international award to former Director-General of UNESCO Koichiro Matsuura for his contribution to expanding dialogue among civilizations and development of relations between Azerbaijan and UNESCO.
ISESCO Director General Abdulaziz Othman Altwaijri was awarded for his fruitful activity to create relations in the fields of science, education and culture and establishment of dialogue among the peoples.
The awarding ceremony was followed by a concert of the Azerbaijan State Chamber Orchestra named after Gara Garayev.

AzerTAc  

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